Venetian blind



y 1952 J. K. MARTIN ET AL 2,598,575

VENETIAN BLIND Filed March 26, 1951 z/ Z9- i l i 2 ,1

i". /Z i, l6 i l 7 mtrxl INVENTOR5 Z4- za z/ JKMarZ'zln BY 7441002097239 WM AT'roRNEYs Patented May 27, 1952 VENETIAN BLIND Joseph K. Martin, Marietta, and David W. Doughty, Atlanta, Ga., assignors to Thompson Venetians, Inc., Atlanta, Ga., a corporation of Georgia,

Application March 26, 1951, Serial No. 217,426

2 Claims. (01. 160-178) This invention relates to Venetian blinds. In a Venetian blind construction, a bottom rail is provided which is secured to the tapes and to the raising and lowering cords. Where the slats are made of metal, a wooden bottom rail is used and the tapes are tacked to the lower side of the bottom rail. It is, therefore, an object of this invention to provide a metal bottom rail with an improved means for securing or clamping the tapes thereto in addition to an improved means for securing the cords thereto.

Another object of this invention is to provide an improved bottom rail which is formed of an inverted channel member, a clamping strip having an ogee curvature in transverse section, and a transversely curved closure strip, with removable end caps for closing the open'ends of the bottom rail.

A further object of this invention is to provide an improved bottom rail which will speed up production and assembly including repair to Venetian blinds.

With the above and other objects in view, our invention consists in the arrangement, combination and details of construction disclosed in the drawings and specification, and then more particularly pointed out in the appended claims.

In the drawing,

Figure 1 is a fragmentary plan view partly in section of a bottom rail for a Venetian blind constructed according to an embodiment of this invention;

Figure 2 is a sectional view taken on the line 2--2 of Figure 1; and

Figure 3 is a sectional view taken on the line 3-3 of Figure 1.

Referring to the drawing, the numeral l designates generally a bottom rail for a Venetian blind which is secured to the lower ends of slatsupporting tapes generally designated as H. The tapes ll include vertically disposed tape members l2 having secured therebetween slatsupporting ladders l3. The bottom rail I0 is formed of an elongated inverted U-shaped or channel member l4 provided between the longitudinal edges thereof with downwardly extended ribs I5 and the vertical sides l6 of the U-shaped member I4 are provided with downwardly and inwardly inclined flanges IT.

The tapes [2 as extended downwardly over the side members [6 and under the flanges I! and are then extended inwardly and outwardly as indicated at [8 over the upper sides of the flanges H. The tapes l2 at their lower ends within the channel member M are disposed in overlapping position and the overlapping ends of the tapes are stapled together, as indicated at IS. A tape clamping member, generally designated as 20, which is of ogee configuration in transverse section, is disposed within the channel member l4, and the tape clamping member 20 is formed with a substantially parabolic central portion 2| having downturned and outwardly curved opposite end portions 22. The opposite longitudinal edges of the clamping member 20 are adapted to bind the tape extensions l8 against the inner sides of the flanges I I and the upper convex sides of the end portions 22 are adapted to bind the tape against the lower side of the upper wall 23 of the channel member M. A transversely curved closure plate 24 is extended into the channel member 14 from one end thereof and binds on the upper sides of the tape extensions l8 with the convex upper side of the closure member l4 bearing against the lower convex side of the parabolic central portion 2|. The opposite ends of the bottom rail H] are adapted to be closed by means of a pair of caps 25 which frictionally engage the opposite ends of the channel member I4 and extend beneath the closure plate 24. The top wall 23 of the channel member [4 is provided at spaced intervals with keyhole openings 26 which include a relatively restricted intermediate portion 21.

A cord 28 having a knotted lower end 29 is adapted to be extended through the opening 26 and then moved laterally through the restricted portion 21 to the reduced diameter portion 30, wherein the cord 28 will be normally positioned.

In the use of this bottom rail structure, the tapes l2, which are secured as by staples Hi together at their lower ends, are extended about the inverted U-shaped member l4 and the tape clamping member 20 is then snapped into position in the channel member l4 beneath the connected together tapes l2. so that the tapes l2 will be resiliently bound within the channel member I 4. The bottom plate 24 is then also inserted from one end of the channel member M whereupon the closure caps 25 may be slipped over the ends of the channel member [4. The cords 28 may be engaged with the top wall of the channel member M by extending the knot 29 through the keyhole openings 26 and moving the cord 28 through the restricted portion 2! into the reduced diameter opening 30.

This bottom rail is designed to be manufactured of metal and will provide an improved means for holding the tapes of Venetian blinds 3 in addition to speeding up the assembly, repair or change in size of the bottom rail where the rail is to be cut ofi in order to fit a selected opening.

What is claimed is:

1. In a Venetian blind structure having slat supporting tapes, a bottom rail comprising an inverted u shaped member, inwardly projecting flanges carried by the lower edges of the vertical sides of said member, and an elongated tape clamping member engageable within said U- shaped member, said clamping member being reversely curved in transverse section'with the outer portions thereof downwardly directed to thereby bind the tape against the inner sides of 15 said flanges.

2. In a Venetian blind structure having slat supporting tapes, a bottom rail comprising an inverted U-shaped member, inwardly projecting flanges carried by the lower edges of the vertical 20- sides of said member, an elongated tape clamping member engageable within said U-shaped 4 member, said clamping member being reversely curved in transverse section with the outer portions thereof downwardly directed to thereby bind the tape against the inner sides of said flanges, and a transversely curved closure strip engaging the inner sides of said flanges.

' JOSEPH K; MARTIN.

DAVID W. DOUGHTY.

REFERENCES CITED The --following references are of record in the file of "this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 2,260,726 Rosenbaum Oct. 28, 1941 2,391,904 Junkunc Jan. 1, 1946 2,485,217 'Seinilof Oct. 18, 1949 2,508,742 Bell May 23, 1950 2,529,229 Sherwood Nov. '7, 1950 2,573,153 Thomson Oct. 30, 1951 2,579,137 Bruner Dec. 18, 1951 

